Trail Riding Days

Fantastic experience: Highly recommended - for any biker who hasn't ridden offroad or on the lanes, has to be a top 5 bucket list activity. I had the chance to book an off-road training day with Tony @ Trail Riding days on Sunday 10th April. It was my first time in Wales and first time on the trails / green laning. I've had road bikes years but always fancied getting into the trail riding. Having some structured training first was definitely worth it. I hired one of the CRF300 ‘s and it was brilliant, such good fun. I lent some riding gear too. I was the first one to do the different style offroad - trail training which means on the day you get more time on the actual trails, starting with a 15-20 minute road ride from the meeting point (car park in Machynlleth) to the first trail, (rather than a morning in a field). This was perfect to get used to the bike on a solid surface before the real tuition of trail riding began. Tony is obviously very capable on these types of bikes and delivers his teaching and guidance in a relaxed, friendly and patient way. We were lucky on the day with the weather being dry, which makes it a bit easier going. It was just a fantastic day. The scenery, the trails, the bike, all with Tony guiding the way. I though it great value for money too with everything included - bike and gear hire, insurance, fuel, lunch and refreshments. I built up so much confidence throughout the day and we moved onto more difficult lanes in the afternoon. I had a small off and bent the rear brake lever but Tony wasn’t fazed at all, he was more concerned that I was OK, which I was so, so with the toolkit he’d brought he shaped the brake lever back into position and we were off again. I really felt by the end of the day I'd really got a good foundation of trail riding techniques, enough to seriously consider getting a trail bike and starting to practice myself, with the hope of booking onto one of Tonys's guided tours of Snowdonia in the future.